Housing Bubble, credit bubble, public planning, land use, zoning and transportation in the exurban environment. Specific criticism of smart growth, neotradtional, forms based, new urbanism and other top down planner schemes to increase urban extent and density. Ventura County, California specific examples.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

The Arlo Guthrie Strategy

In a previous post I suggested a store level protest of Oxnard's new sales tax increase. This was one reply:

Seriously, how will this help? The clerks suffer, the manager of the store may hear about it, but probably won't. Outside the store? Nobody will hear about it.

I guess I need to explain the Arlo Guthrie Strategy in his own words:

And the only reason I'msinging you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similarsituation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in asituation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's walk intothe shrink wherever you are ,just walk in say "Shrink, You can getanything you want, at Alice's restaurant.". And walk out. You know, ifone person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick andthey won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony,they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking insingin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's anorganization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I saidfifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant andwalking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement.

And that's what it is , the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, andall you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come's around on theguitar.

Now Arlo was talking about the draft and the Vietnam War but regardless of the issue the concept is timeless.

Yes... and your movement is known by a bunch of store clerks. Again, they have no say in the decision to raise the sales tax.

Tell you what - try this instead: When you don't like the sales tax, spend about 15 minutes SCREAMING at the sales clerk. You don't need to make sense, just scream at them, blaming them for the extra cost of the item.

That's going to help as much and has the benefit of primal scream therapy.

Seriously - I spent several years working retail during high school / college years. I had a number of people chew me out for prices going up, etc. At first I tried to explain to them that I wasn't the one deciding the price. After a while, I'd just laugh at them.

The state legilature is the one that needs to hear about it, and they won't hear it until the stores close as business goes elsewhere. Of course, this will be blamed on other factors, not the sales tax increase...

The clerks (now unemployed) will remember you (if at all) as the customer who hadn't seen the news about the sales tax going up and was surprised at their register.

Don't they all have store meetings at the end of the day where the clerks have a chance to pass on the information to their managers, and so on up the line? "Gosh, you know, I had a lot of customers at my register today irate about the new sales tax increase." "Me too! They were really venting about it." "Better tell the boss."

funny. I think the clerk should blame YOU for the sales tax increase. why dont you complain to the city council and just leave the store clerk alone. really in this economy people the clerks have it worse than you and me.

I asked the president-elect, "At the end of the day, are you really talking about over the course of your presidency some kind of grand bargain? That you have tax reform, healthcare reform, entitlement reform including Social Security and Medicare, where everybody in the country is going to have to sacrifice something, accept change for the greater good?" "Can I lick your toes"

Feel better Rob, rich is getting bashed again on CR. Such a bright guy with great insight who is willing to share it with people he does not even know.

I went back and checked it out. There's an interesting dynamic evolving. There's some who don't want substantive discussion favoring instead gallows humor gloom and doom. Then there's the beta wolves. They attack any perceived weakness in the better posters in a confused debating dominance strategy. And don't even get me started on the exotic traders who only report their kills and only after the fact.

You are correct about the mob at CR sometimes not recognizing value.

Back on topic: Who was in favor of hiking the sales tax in Oxnard? Did they even get elected? Who sponsored it on the ballot? Why did people vote for it? Don't they shop in their own town?

Those in favor of the hike apparently included a majority of voters. Probably because the City spent 3/4 of a million through its illegal OEDC subsidiary promoting it. The status quo got a quad-fecta; the sales tax, Holden over Tim Flynn, Zaragoza over supervisor Flynn and defeat of the traffic initiative. A quarter million people with a part time mayor and council deserve what they get. Problem is that set of mandates is going to devastate the city. They are among the least prepared large cities for what is coming. Worse they have the arrogance of luck. Tim needed a gut check/reality break and I can't think of better timing than these next two years. With the 1/2% increase I expect revenues to decline 7%.

No, for several reasons. Not least was I didn't think he'd listen this time. Second, now he'll listen. I can tell you I congratulated him on the results because I remain convinced that whomsoever takes the blame for the next two years will be vilified for a generation. I can tell you the OEDC affair could result in criminal charges. Remember Gillig is gone so their magic cloak of legal protection is damaged.

As long as a crime does not lead to self enrichment it is going to be hard to get any traction with it. Without greed as a motivation people will simply assume it is a technicality. Like speeding.

Even with the horrendous wind there is not as much dropped fruit as I imagined. I guess the fruit that has made it this far is pretty strongly attached. Or Jesus loves guacamole. St Francis is the closest thing I can find to being the patron saint of avocados, so I better do something for him soon. Did you know that the name for avocados comes from the indian word ahuacatl which means testicle. That tid-bit came from my research into a patron saint.